In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row

That mark our place, and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard among the guns below."

(In Flanders Fields, John McCrae)

The image features a brilliant red poppy, the flower we wear to remember the fallen.  In the centre is the silhouette of a soldier.  At the bottom sit the crosses, row on row.  And at the top, under a grey sky, fly the larks, still bravely singing.  

It is Canada Post's tribute to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Dr. John McCrae from Guelph, Ontario, right after his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, succumbed to a hit by an 8 inch German shell.  The poem served as a tribute to all of the Canadians who lost their lives at the World War I battle at Ypres Salient. In Flanders Fields has been recited, memorized, and memorialized by millions of Canadians.  The Canadian stamp was issued in May of 2015 to mark the centennial of the famous poem.  "One hundred years later, the power of its verses to evoke the horror of war remains as strong as the day they were written." (https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2015/05/03/in_flanders_fields&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps)

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/announcements/details.page?article=2015/04/30/enduring_elegy_by_co&cattype=announcements&cat=newsreleases

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Poppies

upload.wikimedia.org

Here are ten things you may not know about the poppy, worn on Remembrance Day.

1.  One 19th Century writer remarked that the poppy seemed to sprout freely on the barren ground where battles were previously fought.

2.  In 1915, Lt.-Col. John McRae noticed that the blood-red flower was growing in a cemetery in Ypres where it had never previously grown.  Hence, he wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields".

3.  The bombing runs and rubble of World War I had caused the soil to become chalky, making it conducive to growing poppies.

4.  In 1918, New Yorker Moina Michael read "In Flanders Fields" and started wearing a poppy to commemorate all of the soldiers who died in World War I and other wars.

5.  Moina Michael's poppy was spotted by a French visitor who took the idea back to her home country and started selling poppies to raise money for poor children.

6.  In 1921, the poppy spread to Canada where it serves to remember our soldiers and raise money for them.

7.  While it is respectful to wear a poppy in the days leading up to Remembrance Day, one should not wear the symbol after November 11.  The poppy is supposed to be placed on the grave of a veteran or at the site of a ceremony dedicated to veterans.

8.  In 1980, Canada started selling poppies with a green centre to reflect the green of the battlfields.  However, in 2002 someone realized that poppies are really black in the centre and they reverted to the true colour.

9.  Poppies should be worn on the left lapel of a garment, close to the heart.

10.  During the Napoleonic Wars, the poppy bloomed on the graves of fallen soldiers.

Source:  www.citynews.ca

Queen Elizabeth walks through a sea of poppies courtesy http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/04/world/century-start-world-war-poppy-lives-potent-symbol/.